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DI:Personality

Tulasidas

Jhasi

The Meeting With Anjaneya

The spirit said: "An ugly old man comes to listen to your discourses in the temple every day. Probably you have not noticed him. He is the first to come and the last to go. His looks are disgusting. But he is none other than Anjaneya. Look for him."
So Anjaneya himself had been attending his discourses! Tulasidas jumped with joy.
In the evening Tulasidas went to the discourse hall full of devotion.
The ugly old man was already there in a corner.
Tulasidas felt like running to him, and falling at his feet and crying out, "Show me Lord Sri Rama." But he checked himself. The discourse began.
The entire discourse that evening seemed to be meant only for that old man. All the time Tulasidas's eyes were fixed on him.
The discourse concluded with Ram Bhajan; the audience dispersed. The old man also slowly got up and began to walk away. Tulasidas followed him.
The old man left the main road and took a path leading to a forest. Tulasidas noise lessly walked behind him, praying within himself to Anjaneya.
They were now in the heart of the forest. Tulasidas suddenly ran up to the old man and fell at his feet, praying: "My master, please show me Sri Rama. Lord Anjaneya, have mercy on me."
The old man pretended to know nothing. Shaking him off he said, "What is all this? I am not Anjaneya. Let go my feet."
But Tulasidas persisted.
I know it all now. You are Hanumantha, the trusted servant of Sri Rama. I won't leave your feet unless you reveal your true self to me and fulfil my wish, come what will. Even death" said Tulasidas. He implored and entreated him in several ways.
Then Anjaneya appeared in his true form and said, "Look, hide yourself behind this bush. Sri Rama and Lakshmana will come this way shortly. Then you can see them."
There are several stories about how Tulasidas saw Sri Rama and Lakshmana.
Here is one story.

Sri Rama And Lakshmana

Tulasidas felt immensely happy and once again touched Anjaneya's feet in reverence. He danced in ecstasy chanting Sri Rama's sacred name and crouched behind the bush as directed by Anjaneya. He was all eyes as he watched.
Tulasidas waited and waited. Two princes on horse-back passed that way. Tulasidas sat there, his mind fixed on Lord Rama. But Sri Rama and Lakshmana did not come at all. After a long, time
Anjaneya appeared in the disguise of the same old man. Tulasidas once again clasped his knees and prayed: "Lord Anjaneya, I have waited so far, but Sri Rama and Lakshmana haven't come
Don't you pity me even now? Won't you show me Sri Rama and Lakshmana no at least?" Anjaneya said with a smile: "Did you not see two princes on horseback? They were Sri Rama and Lakshmana." Tulasidas was very unhappy as he realized his own ignorance. "Miserable that I am, my own eyes turned out to be my enemies," he said weeping. Once again he prayed to Anjaneya.
He seemed to hear Anjaneya speaking from the sky: 'Go to Ayodhya; you will have darshan of Sri Rama, Seetha and Lakshmana in their gracious form.'
There are other stories also about how Tulasidas was able to see Sri Rama and Lakshmana.
It is said that after some years Tulasidas had another opportunity of seeing Sri Rama; it is also said Sri Rama asked him to put a mark of sandal paste on his forehead.
There is an episode in the 'Ramacharitamanasa'. When, after crossing the river Yamuna, Sri Rama,
Seetha and Lakshmana step into Chitrakoota, a young hermit prostrates a their feet. He is overcome with devotion and forgets himself. Seetha Devi bestows her blessings on him.
It is said that, at this point, Tulasidas recalls how he had seen Sri Rama; the young hermit, it is said, is Tulasidas's picture of himself.

'Ramacharitamanasa'

Tulasidas left Kashi and went again to Ayodhya. While he was in Kashi he seems to have composed two poems; 'Janaki Mangala' and 'Parvathi Mangala'. In Ayodhya he did rigorous tapas in, utter solitude for some time. Then he' made up his mind to write the 'Ramacharitamanasa'. He himself saw Sri Rama, Seetha and Lakshmana in this epic; and he enabled the readers, too' to see them.
Tulasidas has depicted most effectively in his 'Ramacharitamanasa' how by his own example Sri Rama, the God born as man, set an ideal before the people of this world. Just as Sri Rama is sketched as an ideal leader and king, Seetha Devi is portrayed as a gem of ideal womanhood. She shines as a bright lamp placed on the threshold, illuminating two homes - that of her parents and that of her husband. She was dear not only to her parents but also to her servants.
At the time of sending her to her husband's house, all the queens and their companions were sad. The very parrots in golden cages cried, "O, where is Seetha?"
This is just one example to show how Tulasidas's picture of the simplicity and goodness of Seetha Devi is different from Valmiki's picture. There are some very touching episodes in the ‘Ramacharita- manasa', which are not found in other Ramayanas.
These delicate flowers of the poet's imagination give forth a sweet fragrance of Bhakti.
One such episode reveals Guha's Bhakti. He is the chieftain of the boatmen and a staunch devotee of Sri Rama.
When Sri Rama, Seetha and Lakshmana come to the forest Guha serves them in many ways.
The next day Guha is to ferry them across the river. Sri Rama is about to step into the boat. Then Guha behaves n a way which at first seems stange. He says to Rama, 'My Lord, pardon me; I Cannot allow you to get into the boat until I wash your feet. The mere touch of the dust of your feet turned a stone into a woman, the wife of a sage. What am I to do it my boat turns into a woman at the touch of the dust of your feet?" (Ahalya had become a stone by a curse; the divine touch of Sri Rama made her again a woman).
Tulasidas has depicted this situation very touchingly. In the words of Guha, a fine sense of humour, innocent devotion and Rama's divinity are all reflected at the same time.
Tulasidas has also brought out Bharatha's intense love for his brother, the affection of Dasharatha for his son, the simplicity of Sumitra. Rama's magnanimity and grace in' his treatment of Shabari and Jatayu and many other such virtues.
The scholars of Tulasidas's times thought that epics ought to be composed only in Sanskrit. Tulasidas knew that scholars would object that his epic was in Hindi, the language of the common man. But he believed that good poetry, like the sacred river Ganga, should be accessible to one and all and should reach everyone.
On the whole, Tulasidas's 'Ramacharitamanasa' preaches the traditional values of truth and righteousness, but presents them in greater splendour in a new context. When people had lost courage and were groping in darkness, Tulasidas's 'Ramacharita manasa' appeared as a guiding light of culture; it showed them the divine figure of Sri Rama in the bright light of Bhakti.

A Challenge

Tulasidas thought that Kashi was the best place for the publication of his work. So he went again to Kashi. In the same cottage, the old activities of the day and the evening discourses were resumed. But now he recited passages from his .own 'Ramacharitamanasa' and explained them.
The scholarship and genius of Goswami Tulasidas won the admiration of the people of Kashi.
They regarded him as the incarnation of Valmiki. Several scholars became his disciples. Thousands of people realized the greatness of Bhakti and became devotees of Sri Rama.



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